The 1940s and 1950s were a period of time that catalyzed great economic, political, social, and cultural changes for Latinos in the United States. In my essay I will focus on the effects of Mexican immigration patterns during World War II, the development of counterscripts in response to changes in social trends of the 1950s, and the rise of the nation's youth demographics to discuss the emergence of Latinos as " Mexicans". -Americans” and the new presence they had in American society after the Second World War. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the early 1940s, the United States was involved in World War II and experienced a dramatic labor shortage due to the call-up of U.S. workers to the military and defense industries. The Bracero Program, a system designed to provide cheap labor for the United States during wartime by arranging temporary six-month labor contracts for Mexicans, filled much of the gap in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors and strengthened military forces. However, due to the blatantly cruel and inhumane treatment of bracero workers, many Mexicans entered the country as undocumented “wetback” aliens to avoid horrific racist attacks and earn slightly better wages outside of the crippled and corrupt program. Mexico's most significant contribution to the war effort, more crucial than the thousands of Mexican citizens who served in the U.S. Army, was the vast army of braceros, or "soldiers on the agricultural front" (Foley 121) who were able to hold the food on hand. on the tables of American families. The implication of 4.5 million bracero workers, not counting “wetbacks,” who entered the country between 1942 and 1964 and settled instead of returning to Mexico soon instilled great fear in the American people. Neil Foley's book, Mexicans in the Making of America, describes how “the fear of a wet country invasion in the 1950s echoed the 1940s fear that the Axis powers might invade the hemisphere through Mexico and prefigured the migratory reaction of the 1990s and the border fence. security measure after September 11th”. The Latino population in the Southwest grew rapidly, especially along the border states as braceros had their labor contracts extended nearly year-round while waiting for the United States to arrange more trains and buses back to Mexico (Foley) . Recognizing the crucial role they had in preserving the web of American life during the war, Mexican labor unions began to organize and demand better treatment and equal rights for white workers, challenging the inherently unjust system that the United States had designed to ensure the access to cheap labour. Despite the significant contributions made by the Mexicans, the U.S. government was troubled by the obvious foothold the Mexicans had gained, but determined to ignore the very values ​​of democracy, equality, and justice that U.S. troops had fought for during the World War II and continued to oppress Mexican immigrants for their own economic, political and ideological reasons. Economically, Mexicans had provided cheap labor in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors since before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. Although bracero wages andwetbacks were paltry and unfair compared to those given to white workers, this income sent to Mexico was critical to the country's economic health. Mexico had effectively “hitched its economic wagon to the United States” (Foley 123). By exploiting this economic dependence and undercutting Mexican workers, the United States was able to save millions of dollars with this cheap, “deportable” and “disposable” workforce. The political implications of race in the 1950s were even more striking. Many American citizens were still implicitly racist, and it was nearly impossible for campaigns to win incumbent seats without exercising “dog whistle” politics, a strategy that involves applying racist interpretations to policies and legislation without explicitly mentioning race . The fact that Alabama governor George Wallace lost elections multiple times for being “soft on race” (Lopez 14), and did not win until he began incorporating underlying racial appeals into his campaign, demonstrates the The enormous emphasis that American voters have placed on the racial issue. problems. Wallace recalls of his series of campaigns: “I started out talking about schools, highways, prisons and taxes – and I couldn't make them listen. Then I started talking about the niggers – and they trampled the earth” (Lopez 14). American politics in the 1950s further applied racialization and racial scripts to minorities as the “Southern Strategy” became the only way to secure the inherently racist white man's vote (Lopez). Socially and ideologically, the United States' pursuit of "manifest destiny" was the primary goal. national interest. The dark-skinned, Spanish-speaking neighbors to the south were considered to be of “mixed stock” and of Indian descent, thus not included in the body of people chosen by God to establish the Western frontier and spread democracy and civilization. Even though Mexicans have been the backbone of the agricultural and industrial sectors for decades, living and working on American soil, they continued to be perceived as a humble race, incapable of assimilating into American culture and therefore were not recognized for their desire for progress or progress. position in society. The United States acted to repress the mobility of Mexicans on several fronts: The Taft-Hartley Act of 1952 undermined the expansion of unions and made it more difficult for them to form, organize, and strike, as exemplified in the revolutionary film Salt of the Earth. In 1954, the execution of Operation Wetback consisted of immigration agents raiding camps, factories, and businesses and rampantly deporting thousands of Mexicans, regardless of their status as illegal aliens or naturalized citizens. Faced with families torn apart and communities suffocating due to these oppressive policies, Latinos began to mobilize and resist. In Los Angeles, the Committee to Protect the Foreign-Born (LACPFB) worked to counter the efforts of Operation Roundup, the local chapter of Operation Wetback. The American GI Forum (AGIF) came together to ensure that Mexican veterans received the same benefits, such as education, employment, and small business loans, that U.S. veterans were entitled to in the GI Bill (Mora). The League of United Citizens of Latin America (LULAC) has been a major player in situations such as the Hernandez v. Texas, which challenged the constitutionality of excluding Mexicans from jury duty and led to the establishment of "Mexican" as a separate racial category. incorporated into jury selection (Foley). This mobilization of resistance to the foreign policy of theUnited States and White Supremacy resembles what Natalie Molina describes in her book, How Race is Made in America, as a “counterscript,” a new culture, meaning, and set of self-ascribed characteristics to a group in resistance to a social script previously imposed on them based on race. Instead of playing the role of incompetent and inferior “disposable” workers, Mexicans sought to emerge as educated, equal, and valuable members of the workforce and broader society. Much of the fuel for the evolution of this counterscript was the result of colossal social changes in 1950s America. During this era, American culture was bound by rigid social roles used to create a sense of coherence and security in the face of tension and fear caused by World War II, immigration issues, the Red Scare, the spread of McCarthyism and the Cold. War. With the horizon relatively clear of further national calamities, diverse demographic groups, including Latinos, African Americans, and women, have decided to break free from the age of conformity and push the boundaries of social normality and further develop their respective countermeasures. scripts for the future era (Zaragoza). Chicano studies professor Alexander Saragoza recently lectured on the UC Berkeley campus about the myriad social changes that occurred in the 1950s. He explained the nation's educational progress with the statistic that seven million students were on track to earn a college degree by the mid-1950s, compared to only one million in 1950. This increase in college graduates led to a growing middle class. growth with a newfound awareness of one's abilities. inequality and injustice in the United States, especially the history and treatment of minorities. This awareness spread through American families as the expansion of television networks and the prominent presence of the media increased access to the information, ideas, and diverse ways of thinking stimulated by civil rights movements across the nation. Furthermore, the stark awareness of economic difference and the encroachment of gentrification on vibrant Latino communities in places like Los Angeles has motivated young people like Sal Castro to take action and advocate for the rights of Latino communities (García). Perhaps the demographic group that has resonated most Contributing to these social changes has not been Latinos, African Americans, Asians, or even women, but the broader demographic of young people. American society in the 1950s experienced an enormous cultural change with the construction of the “adolescent teenager”; a young adult born after World War II who was not interested in political, economic, ideological, and racial tensions. These teenagers constituted a generation that did not want the American-made car, white picket fence, green lawn, nine-to-five job, stay-at-home wife, and cookie-cutter life so prominent in 1950s American culture . This generation cried out in anguish and restlessness, pushing its way through the tired hum of conformity and ideological stagnation and forming yet another counterscript: that of a generation willing to leave the confines of America's white suburbs and experiment with clothes, drugs, dancing, music, sex, wild behavior, unorthodox relationships and revolutionary ideas. Television and radio stations constantly broadcast sounds and images of young people across the country dancing to rock and roll music and of prominent activists engaging in social and political uprisings. With unlimited access to images and ideas from the civil rights movement and the.